Svendborg Arena, south of the island of Funen in the Baltic Sea, doesn’t look very attractive. Planted in the middle of a city of 60,000 people, it resembles a vast hangar devoid of charm.
But the atmosphere was quickly warmed by the noise made by 4,500 Danish fans wearing blood and gold, the colors of GOG (Gudme Oure Gudbjerg), a club that essentially represents the village of Gudme a few kilometers away.
Fewer than 1000 residents live there, making it the smallest representative in the Champions League, all sports combined. However, in sports like the story of David against Goliath, it is not always the strongest who wins in the end. Therefore, it is not without reason that PSG came to Denmark as the country of the world and the Olympic champion of this match, this November 12.
Especially in the Champions League, although PSG is still unbeaten in the championship, their performance is not good. Before coming to Svendborg this Wednesday night, he had a disastrous record: only 2 wins and 4 losses. Never in a dozen European campaigns did he register such a mediocre record.
At kick-off, there was no doubt whether the French champions would progress directly to the quarter-finals of the tournament by finishing in the first two places in their group. But when he was about to raise his head to avoid the humiliation of being eliminated in the preliminary round.
Three weeks after the still painful slap received by the same Danes at home (36-34), Parisians began to dot the “i”. That has become even more important for the 100% Danish Paris staff, coach Stefan Madsen and his assistant Henrik Mollgaard, four-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion. Last but not least here is a legend who was given a standing ovation when his name was announced.
PSG awaits Barcelona in a week
The game in this sticky ball-loving country is also special for Noah Gaudin, who played there for 5 years and speaks fluent Danish.
Despite all this motivation, PSG struggled to defend. Behind at the break (18-17), Luka Karabatic’s team failed to remove the Viking plaster permanently. He led 2 or 3 times (28-26, 52) but without avoiding danger.
But the Parisian team still won by regaining their nightly opponents’ goal average. “This win is very, very important,” Noah Gaudin said. We put intensity into it and the little things that were sometimes lacking up until then, we got it this time. »
With this victory, PSG’s ratio of wins (3) and losses (4) remains negative and Barcelona awaits another week at Coubertin. The Champions League is still a crossroads but the slope is gentler.
